The NFL has been listening to the complaints, but no way is it going to fully support New England’s tampering charges against the New York Jets on the Deion Branch case. Even when the Pats had Branch virtually traded to Seattle, they were complaining last Friday that the Jets had tampered with Branch.

“When you allow a player to seek a trade and allow his agent to do the same, while working on a contract, how can you prove any blame on any team interested in that player,” a top NFL official told me on Saturday, when the tampering charges were revealed. “I just don’t know why they won’t let that go. It makes no sense and seems groundless to me.”

“It just sounds like sour grapes to me,” one GM told me Tuesday afternoon. “For some reason, they really thought no one would go after him for a lot of money.”

Rudderless Raiders

Raise your hand if you think Jerry Porter would have helped the Raiders’ offense Monday night? Raise your hand if you think nobody, even Joe Montana or Troy Aikman, could have salvaged that offense?

It’s too bad the Raiders didn’t trade Porter to New England and kept Doug Gabriel, who was liked by his Oakland teammates, particularly Randy Moss.

Punk'd?

It did seem like a punk thing to do, when Moss flipped the ball to Chargers placekicker Nate Kaeding, who was standing out-of-bounds. But it didn’t seem like a big-time taunting penalty until reading the rule books. A player isn’t allowed, at any time, to use a football as a prop when dealing with opponents or officials. Moss undoubtedly didn’t know that rule.

Out of character

The thing about Porter laughing at Raiders quarterback Aaron Brooks being sacked on Monday night is that he has had a reputation as being not a team player for quite a long time. He had this reputation prior to his run-in with new head coach Art Shell.

Chief concerns

The Chicago Bears were interested in signing veteran receiver Rod Gardner. But guess what happened? Gardner got a better deal from the Kansas City Chiefs. The good news in Kansas City is that quarterback Trent Green is expected to be released from the hospital Tuesday after that ugly hit by Cincinnati’s Robert Gaethers on Sunday.

Sweet revenge

There is one big reason why Vikings quarterback Brad Johnson was extra excited about beating the Redskins in Washington – owner Daniel Snyder. He knew that Snyder thought he had a pop-gun throwing arm and wanted Jeff George as his quarterback. Johnson also knew what a rough time Snyder gave then head coach Norv Turner, who loved Johnson and supported him to the bitter end.

The right stuff

The Seattle Seahawks made the right move in trading next year’s first-round pick for New England receiver Deion Branch. Seattle’s window of opportunity is now to return to the Super Bowl, plus he gives quarterback Matt Hasselbeck a solid option underneath. The Seahawks would be really scary if they also had guard Steve Hutchinson, who opened some big holes for Chester Taylor on Monday night.

Seattle GM Tim Ruskell didn’t want to surrender his first-rounder, but when his team escaped Detroit with only a 9-6 win, he had no choice. I’m still not sure if it was the right move for New England, losing a talented player. But it really was the only thing the Patriots could do once they knew that Branch was serious about not reporting until the 10th week of the season. The negotiations got ugly and he never would have signed with them.

The thing about this trade is how many players get a chance to repeat as a Super Bowl MVP with another team? Branch took the honor in Jacksonville two years ago and he could end up leading the Seahawks into Miami this season.